1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a glass wall or door structure, and more specifically to a support frame for receiving and supporting a panel of glass as part of a wall system or door structure.
2. Prior Art
Glass room enclosures continue to be popular among the various construction techniques for offices, professional buildings and the like. Utilization of glass as an enclosing wall structure requires the use of a support frame which secures the glass panel to floor and ceiling in a rigid and safe manner. Because of its popularity in a wide range of architectural designs, numerous items of hardware have been developed to facilitate mounting glass structure as part of a wall or door assembly, while retaining an aesthetic property which is appealing and compatible with interior designs. Most of this hardware is component oriented, meaning that the assembled hardware structure is made up of parts which are screwed or joined together to enclose the edge of the glass panel and provide secure mounting at floor and ceiling.
Various systems of components which have or may be adapted as support structure for glass panels are represented in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,903 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,390 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,808,136 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,985,174 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,430,757 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,299,508
Each of these patents except for U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,390 demonstrates the standard practice of component assembly. This basic design approach involves the interattachment of a front and back panel as separate components with a mounting base adapting the structure for positioning and securing to the floor or ceiling. In contrast, U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,390 shows an integral structure formed of plastic which utilizes angled phlanges in a receiving channel to grasp and retain the glass panel once inserted. A major problem with this structure is its inability to handle heavier weight glasses which are typically used for wall construction. Indeed, the patent focuses on lighter weight glass panels used as part of a window assembly, therefore the problems of extreme weight and proper horizontal/vertical orientation with respect to the floor and ceiling levels do not apply.
In contrast with the window applications of glass frames, door and wall construction often require an adjustment to improve the squareness of the door and wall unit to conform to the relative out-of-squareness in variations in the height of the building opening. Obviously, doors and walls must appear parallel and square in glass or rigid material systems, as well as meeting the constructural requirements of squareness in an absolute sense.
Other problems which arise with glass wall panels include concealment of conduits such as electrical, telephone and computer cable. Not only should such cable be hidden from normal view, but it must also be accessible for repair and maintenance. Because of this limitation, as well as the need to have glass panel structure of modular design so that walls can be assembled or disassembled, component construction has been the dominant method for glass panel enclosures. To attempt to apply the integral construction represented in the window frame of U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,390 poses numerous obstacles, including the ability to make adjustments for squareness, enclosures for conduit and modular design to permit installation as well as disassembly.
In contrast to modular constructions, prior art glass door and wall panels have been produced in factories to exact dimensions supplied by the contractor. Such preformed panels are rigidly attached by a cementing glue and lack adjustability which is sometimes necessary in view of unexpected changes in construction sizes. Accordingly, preformed wall panel structures have not been widely accepted. The dominant practice of utilizing component elements to assemble a wall structure remains the most common approach to the problem of glass panel construction. Such multiple component support frames continue to be used, despite the fact that they are cumbersome to assemble and adjust and generally expensive to purchase and install. Both the preformed wall constructions fabricated to contractor specification and the multi-conponent systems may be subject to damage during construction and/or adjustment. Such systems lack the flexibility to be applied in a variety of structural applications in view of the foregoing deficiencies.